Meeting SCANDAL at C3 Anime Festival Asia (C3AFASG) 2019

In town as part of the C3AFASG19 I Love Anisong line up, Japanese girl band SCANDAL is no stranger to Singapore having performed here before. Meeting members of the media for an intimate chat session, Kenneth and Nicholas finds out from them why they have decided to go independent with their own record label and the changes since they first started in 2006.

When we last met Haruna Ono, Mami Sasazaki, Tomomi Ogawa and Rina Suzuki 8 years ago while they were here for their own concert, it felt like meeting a group of schoolgirls who got their first big break and touring the world. Now we have 4 ladies who have experienced the industry more and looking forward to strike out on their own.

Yet some things probably never changed from the day they started out as like 4 high school girlfriends debating and laughing as they discussed who changed the most when asked. In the end it was Mami whose hair went through not only different lengths but also colours such as pink, blue, navy, yellow and gold.

Moving onto the announcement of them coming out independent with their own label, the band decided it was time to freshen things up and create a place they can call home. Through this new label called “her”, they would be able to freely express themselves through music. In fact, their upcoming album “Kiss from the darkness” is the first fruits of this development.

Of course, there were changes that they have to adjust to now that they have gone independent with their own label. Before, they had a producer to see through the whole process but now they have to work on everything on their own, right from the start.

Onto the future, other than the release of their new album “Kiss from the darkness” in February 2020, the band was also happy to announce the SCANDAL WORLD TOUR 2020 “Kiss from the darkness” with initial locations – Seoul, Singapore, Manila, and Bangkok. This means for our local fans here, we will get to see SCANDAL perform at the The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa on May 2020.

Entering the stage like experienced artist 6 hours later to close the first night of the I Love Anisong concert, the band opened with Masterpiece followed by Shunkan Sentimental, the fourth ending theme of the anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Shojo-S, the tenth opening theme for the anime Bleach.

Speaking to a highly energetic audience that night, SCANDAL shared that they were happy to be back and its been 9 years since they last performed at I Love Anisong and they are happy to be back here to perform for their fans.

The band continued with Yoake no Ryuuseigun and HARUKAZE before sharing with about their upcoming world tour with details of their concert here in Singapore to a very receptive audience.

SCANDAL closed their performance with A.M.D.K.J, a new song that will be on their next album “Kiss from the darkness”, Saishu Heiki, Kimi and Take Me Out.

It was nice to see the 4 of them perform again on stage to tunes both old and new. The audience of course were super encouraging with their appropriate coloured lightsticks and cheers. Its been a long time since we got see the 4 of them perform and next May’s concert will definitely be something to look forward to!